Get Started with Functional API Testing

NOTE: This page contains information on SoapUI Pro, part of the ReadyAPI suite of applications.
To try enhanced functional testing, with data-driven capabilities, download a trial of SoapUI Pro.

Why use SoapUI Pro for Functional Testing?

While the Open Source version can be seen as the Swiss Army knife for testing, SoapUI Pro is the tool with the sharpest edge. Applied to the functional testing area, SoapUI Pro focus on enhancing efficiency and usability. With Point and Click Testing, you can drag and drop instead of manually writing the code. The Form Editor creates a form from your request, further eliminating the need for you to spend time on repetitive coding. These functions make, in combination with the Outline Editor who simplifies and exposes the XML structure, your testing more fun and less time consuming. If creativity, flow and speed are important to you as a tester, SoapUI Pro is too.

1. Create a test from a request

In SoapUI Pro, the request editor comes up to the right. SoapUI Pro has an Outline Editor that simplifies the hierarchical structure of the XML, both in requests and responses, and at the same time is customizable.

If you are using SoapUI Open Source, you have to enter your data manually in the code editor as shown below. To benefit fully from this tutorial you should use the Pro version. You can download the Pro Trial version for free here, giving you 2 weeks access.

2. In the request editor, select Add This Request to TestCase. SoapUI Pro will display a dialog where you can specify the desired options for a new test step and give it a descriptive name. This may be especially usefull when doing manual testing or if you want non-technical staff to enter a request.

3. Adding a request to a test case will open the Create TestSuite dialog box. Enter a name for your test suite and click OK.

4. After clicking OK, you will be asked to create a test case. In the Create TestCase dialog, enter a name for your test case and click OK.

5. Next, the dialog box Add Request to TestCase will appear. The dialog has different options for SOAP and REST services. Click OK.

6. SoapUI will now generate a test suite and test case for you while the request will be added as a test request. A test case editor will also open with your new test request. Below, you can see the SOAP Request and REST Request test steps that appear in the interface:

The next step is to validate the response in your test by adding an assertion.

2. Add an Assertion to the test

Now that we've created and run our first test, we are going to add a validation of the response. In SoapUI, this is called adding an assertion. SoapUI Pro contains several functions that enhances automation for those who spends their days (and nights) testing and are in need of extensive assertions.

Examples of assertions that is possible in SoapUI are:

Schema Compliance

Simple Contains

Simple Not Contains

SOAP Fault

Not SOAP Fault

SOAP Response

Response SLA

XPath Match

XQuery Match

Script Assertion

WS-Security Status

WS-Addressing Response Assertion

WS-Addressing Request Assertion

1. Close all the windows you opened in SoupUI before starting. Double-click your SOAP Request or REST Request test step as shown below. This will open the appropriate request editor.

2. In the request editor, Click the Add an Assertion to Test Request button.

3. In the subsequent Add Assertion dialog, select SLA > Response SLA.

4. In the Configure Response SLA Assertion dialog box, write 500 and click OK. This will validate that the response of the SLA is under 500 (This is measured in milliseconds, 500 should be half of a second).

5. Now that you've added the assertion, you are going to run the request to validate the response. If all assertions are successful, the test step icon turn green as shown below:

Tip: You can see how many assertions you have in a test by looking at the assertions tab. The number of assertions is written on the tab "Assertions (2)".

6. You can also validate the response by adding an XPath Match assertion.

7. In SoapUI Pro, you can open the Select XPath dialog, where you can select nodes to assert. SoapUI will create a matching XPath expression that will refer to the selected node.

8. SoapUI Pro automatically populates the expected result to match what's in the response. But of course, you can change this to what's relevant for you.